1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of materials and particularly to compositions and methods for oligomer functionalized nanotubes and composites thereof.
2. Related Art
Presented below is background information on certain aspects of the present invention as they may relate to technical features referred to in the detailed description, but not necessarily described in detail. That is, individual parts or methods used in the present invention may be described in greater detail in the materials discussed below, which materials may provide further guidance to those skilled in the art for making or using certain aspects of the present invention as claimed. The discussion below should not be construed as an admission as to the relevance of the information to any claims herein or the prior art effect of the material described.
Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) have stimulated intense research interest in recent years on account of their unique physical properties. A significant proportion of this research has been directed towards the use of these 1-D nanoscale materials as fillers in polymer composite materials.1-3 (A list of publications corresponding to the numbers in superscripts is attached at the end of the disclosure). Many of these reports have documented remarkable advances in the formation of hybrid materials which exhibit extreme high modulus and strength values far exceeding those of conventional high performance materials.4-6 New synthetic methodologies for nanotube production now allow the preparation of ultra-high aspect-ratio nanotubes which may be impregnated within polymer matrices to yield novel composites.7,8 Consequently, the paradigm shift in material properties promised by research involving nanoscale structures is slowly becoming a realization.9-11 Some nanotube-based advances have utilized developments in the physical properties of carbon nanotubes, such as increases in length, control over diameter, and the ability to prepare precisely controlled arrays of free-standing nanotubes on a range of substrates.9,12,13 In parallel with this, progress has been made in the chemical functionalization of carbon nanotubes and their successful integration within polymer matrices to yield significantly improved composite materials.14-16 
While much has been achieved, the issue of successfully integrating nanotubes within polymers at volume fractions whereby the efficiency of stress transfer between the tubes and the polymer matrix is optimized remains at large. Resolving this issue by combining optimized physical properties with precisely controlled chemical functionality would be expected to yield even further improvement in mechanical properties in such composites, while greater interfacial interaction would be expected to facilitate significantly improved electronic and thermal management characteristics of such materials.16 Towards this end, discrete molecules, polymerization initiators, and polymers have been grafted to and from the surface of carbon nanotubes.17-20 However, relatively few reports exist concerning the tailored grafting of short-chain analogues of the host polymer matrix to the surface of nanotubes.